Free Custom «The Authenticity of Willie Lynch Letter» Essay Sample
Willie Lynch letter is a document that is believed to have been written by one of the British slave owners in the West Indies and delivered as a speech in Virginia, on the bank of James River. The letter presents the methods of maintaining control and holding ownership of slaves. However, the authenticity of this document is being questioned as there are not enough facts that can fully prove that the document existed.
Several researchers have tried to analyze the letter, which made it even more doubtful since different people proposed different theories. These theories are based on different sources, which may mean that there is no common, reliable root. Historians have tried to seek the existing document, but none of them has succeeded in the task. Further, it has been concluded that Willie Lynch was born three decades after the alleged speech, which dismisses the origin of the letter. Basically, the letter was assumed to have been written in order to facilitate the African American slavery and support the spread of racism in the country. The letter was claimed to have largely entailed disunity increasing the effect of the slavery on the Blacks. It was mainly intended to make the Americans feel the superiority over the Africans and amplify the psychological trauma of the slavery business for the Black people.
Nevertheless, the letter cannot be considered as a valid historical document. It can be recognized only if there is an actual root. However, if it was a highly valued and important document, it ought to have been preserved as a historical document that would play a vital role in terms of historical reference and business, as well.
What is more, there are several indications in the letter that completely dismiss it as valid evidence. First, the speech was delivered by Willie Lynch who was British. However, the letter is written in the American English. For example, the word “colour”, which should have been in the British form, is written as “color”, which is in the American spelling version. Besides, the author of the letter is said to have used wrong format of an official letter. Willie Lynch did not even recognize his host to the event; rather he only saluted the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia.
After several factual considerations, it was concluded that it was not logical for Willie Lynch to be invited from West Indies to come and deliver an eight-paragraph speech, yet the was considerably costing. The letter is also referred to be biased since the validly of its existence is exaggerated. The author’s claim that the methods outlined will be of help in “300 hundred years” makes the figure too long to write in words. Instead, he ought to have used 300 years or three hundred years. In the speech, Willie Lynch writes about the differences that the Blacks had. The letter was intended to explain the current differences among the blacks; however, their effect had not been visible during the time when Willie Lynch is said to have written it.
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In addition, when giving the key factors, he uses alphabetical order, which also sounds unnatural. Also, he delivers the speech in the name of providing solution and addressing the so-called gentlemen, but ends up giving irrelevant information.
Further, although the outline of the history of the speech is well known, the fact that the abolitionists, who fought against the slave mastering, did not mention the speech anywhere in any of their documents denies its validity. The speech first appeared in the 1970’s with its flow bearing a current format. It was also printed in books for college students and even advanced further to the school curriculum in some of the institutions. An interesting fact to take into consideration is that the ‘speech history’ emerged during the times of political and social subordination of the African American nation. Thus, the specialists conclude that it might have been an emotional and a nonviolence way of humiliating the Africans. The speech is abundant with racism and inferiority of the Africans.
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At some point, Willie Lynch describes how he met dead bodies hanging on trees. However, during that period, there were no such incidences as far as slavery was concerned. In his speech, Willie Lynch happened to mention King James, who had died a long time ago, and the current sovereign was Queen Anne. In addition, the theme of King James again did not apply to what Willie Lynch was trying to explain. The American History Recording Association has no data concerning where the document has been for all that time. What is more, its original copy is missing, yet there are other copies (and of course older than Willie Lynch’s speech) that are still preserved in their original state. It should also be noted that there are no persons other than Willie Lynch mentioned to have been involved in the incidence apart from the gentlemen addressed in general in his speech. Therefore, the letter lacks any satisfying link that can prove its validity; thus, researchers tend to call it a modern myth.
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